THE ALPS.

WHO first beholds the Alps-that mighty chain
Of mountains, stretching on from east to west,
So massive, yet so shadowy, so ethereal,
As to belong rather to heaven than earth—
But instantly receives into his soul

A sense, a feeling that he loses not,

A something that informs him 't is a moment
Whence he may date henceforward and for ever?

Great was the tumult there

Deafening the din, when in barbaric pomp
The Carthaginian on his march to ROME
Entered their fastnesses. Trampling the snows,
The war-horse reared; and the towered elephant
Upturned his trunk into the murky sky,
Then tumbled headlong, swallowed up and lost,
He and his rider.-Now the scene is changed;
And o'er Mount Cenis, o'er the Simplon winds
A path of pleasure. Like a silver zone
Flung about carelessly, it shines afar,
Catching the eye in many a broken link,
In many a turn and traverse as it glides;
And oft above and oft below appears,
Seen o'er the wall by him who journeys up,
As though it were another, not the same,
Leading along he knows not whence or whither,
Through glens locked up before.

Not such my path!
Mine but for those, who, like Jean Jacques, delight
In dizziness, gazing and shuddering on
Till fascination comes and the brain turns!
Mine, though I judge but from my ague-fits,
Over the Drance, just where the Abbot fell,
The same as Hannibal's.-But now 'tis past,
That turbulent Chaos; and the promised land
Lies at my feet in all its loveliness!

To him who starts up from a terrible dream,
And lo, the sun is shining, and the lark
Singing aloud for joy,-to him is not
Such sudden ravishment as now I feel
At the first glimpses of fair ITALY.

ROGERS.

TERMS USED IN INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE.

THE first thing the student of Industrial Science has to do, is to make himself acquainted with the terms of the science, and the precise acceptation in which they are used; and happily a knowledge of their meaning carries with it a simultaneous knowledge of the leading facts and principles of the science. These terms are chiefly the followingWealth, capital, profit, value, price, wages, supply and demand.

Wealth. Of the manifold things which sustain and adorn existence, only a small portion is obtainable without labour. The earth we tread upon, the air we breathe, the water we drink, are, it is true, no products of human labour; nor does man's labour, so far as we see, increase these things; for though man is said to produce, it is beyond his power to create. But in order that these and the other bounties of nature may yield what is necessary for the sustenance and embellishment of life, there must be labour or industry. Before wheat can be raised from the soil, there must be labour; and before bread can be made from wheat, there must be further labour. Without labour, cotton cannot be converted into calico, nor flax into linen, nor sheep's skin into leather. It is only as the result of industry that the various minerals assume the form of bricks and tiles, glass and crockery, tools and utensils. There must be much and various labour before the coal can be dug out of the earth, to warm our houses, to cook our food, and, through the medium of gas-works and iron pipes, to furnish us with artificial light.

In our common speech the term wealth is applied to whatever we possess in abundance, whether the possession be the free gift of nature or the produce of labour. But in Industrial Science the term is restricted to those things which are the produce of labour. The individual articles of which wealth consists-as farms, cattle, mines, machinery, canals, railways, money-have, of course, individual names attached

to them; and they have also general names, such as goods, commodities, and the like. But the collective name given to them is wealth. Whatever is the produce of labour, is, in Industrial Science, denominated wealth.

Capital. Most wealth-possessors use their wealth for two purposes. A manufacturer, for example, whose wealth consists, on the one hand, of a house, a garden, carriages, books, pictures; and, on the other hand, of a factory, with machinery and a stock of raw cotton or flax, does not use both these portions of his wealth for the same end. He uses his house, garden, carriages, etc., for the gratification of his pleasure or taste; but his factory, machinery, and raw material he uses in order to get more wealth. In like manner, a monied man—that is, a man whose wealth consists wholly or chiefly of money-employs part of it for his own maintenance or enjoyment, and lends the remainder to people who pay him for the loan of it-his object in thus lending it for a stipulated payment being to increase his wealth.

That part of wealth which is used for the purpose of increasing wealth, is called capital. And as there are many kinds of wealth, so there are also many kinds of capital. Thus, seeds, cattle, manure, and implements are the farmer's capital; warehouses, ships, and goods for sale are the merchant's capital; while land and houses are the landlord's capital. Professional capacity acquired by study and practice forms the capital of the physician and the lawyer. The workingman's capital is his strength, skill, and tools.

Nearly all capital is used in three ways-viz., in producing raw material, as in the case of farming, gardening, cotton-growing; in changing the form of raw material, as in the case of turning wheat into bread, cotton into calico, hides into leather; and in conveying commodities from one place to another, as in the case of shipping, railways, and other methods of transport.

Profit. It is with a view to its increase that a man employs his capital in trade or commerce; and the increase which accrues from so employing it is denominated profit.

Let us suppose that a man, who possesses only three shillings, becomes a street-hawker. He buys two shillings' worth of fruit to sell again, and with the remaining shilling a basket to carry his fruit in. His capital is now his fruit and basket. He sells his fruit for three shillings, and thereby gains one shilling. In other words, by using his capital, he increases it from three to four shillings, and thus makes one shilling of profit. To whatever is gained by the use of capital we apply the name profit, except when capital is lent out for a stipulated payment-in which case the gain is called interest.

Although profit and interest are only different forms of gain from the use of capital, yet it deserves remark that the former always is, or ought to be, larger than the latter. When a man lends his capital, he does so with the belief that the person to whom he lends it, is sure not only to pay the stipulated interest, but also to return the capital when wanted and usually he exacts from the borrower securities or guarantees sufficient to warrant such belief. All, then, that he is entitled to from the borrower is a fair payment or interest for the use of his capital. But when, instead of lending out his capital to be employed in business by another person, he enters into business with it himself, he ceases to be sure of any fixed gain-he runs the risk of lessening it, and even losing it, while he is, moreover, put to the trouble of laying it out and managing it in his business. In this latter case, he is obviously entitled to a larger return than in the former case. For he requires not only a fair payment for the use of his capital, but also a payment for the risk he runs, and a further payment for his trouble in managing his business.

Value.-A boy with a shilling can get many things in exchange for it; he can get a knife, or a book, or two sixpences, or twelve pennies. In each case he would get the worth or value of his shilling; for, in the language of Industrial Science, the value of a thing is just what can be got in exchange for it. If a boy can exchange his ball for another boy's top, the top is the value of the ball; if a

workman can obtain a sovereign for his week's work, the sovereign is the value of his work. Everything that can be exchanged for anything else is said to have value. And as the value of a thing is just what is obtainable in exchange for it, the more anything will exchange for, the greater is its value.

Few commodities, if any, have the same value at all times. At one time the baker may get in exchange for his loaf nearly twice as much as at another time. This year the workman may obtain a sovereign for his week's work, and next year only fifteen shillings. A log of timber which six months ago was worth only £5, may fetch double that sum to-day. The only thing which does not materially fluctuate in value is gold;—a fact which accounts for the employment of gold as a measure or standard of value.

Price. By price is meant the value of any commodity measured in money. We say, for example, that a house is worth so many pounds, shillings, and pence. This sum of money we call the price of the house; so that the price of a thing is just its money-value, or what it will fetch in money. It need scarcely be said, that when commodities fluctuate in value, their price must also fluctuate. Indeed, it is through fluctuations in price, that we are led to notice and measure fluctuations in value.

Wages.-Wages is the name given to the price of labour, or the payment for labour. There are, indeed, other names. Thus, when the payment is made by the year, it is often called a salary or stipend; when made on account of a given amount of labour, it is called a fee. It is only when it is paid by the day or the week or the month, that it is always called wages. Clergymen, teachers, and clerks usually receive salaries or stipends; physicians and lawyers receive fees; smiths, masons, carpenters, printers, and other workingmen, receive wages. But, no matter by what name payment for labour is called, such payment is always the price of labour; and that price, like the price of every other commodity, is subject to fluctuation.